High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1192: Chapter 254: The Off-Topic Hearing

Xin Fat Man had previously said he was going to the office building, but Zheng Qing was very aware that it was just an excuse. After leaving the teaching building, the fat man sighed, patted the cost student on the shoulder, and walked arm in arm with Zhang Ji Xin toward the library.

Zheng Qing was left standing at the entrance of the teaching building, filled with annoyance.

He brooded over the last conversation he had with Xiao Xiao, feeling uneasy.

He really hoped that Elena hadn’t heard what Xiao Xiao said clearly, or maybe she thought he had come across the term ”Locking Demon Door” while researching the ”Six-pointed Star Array” project. But he knew all too well that this was wishful thinking.

”Damn unlucky,” he muttered.

The young cost student kicked a pebble in frustration. The pebble arced through the air, hitting a bush by the roadside and startling a pair of sparrows entwined together. The sparrows angrily chirped at the warlock a couple of times and left behind a dropping.

Following the direction the pebble had rolled, Zheng Qing unexpectedly caught sight of a fat figure in a yellow robe.

It was Monk Shi Yuan, one of the founders of the Absolution Knight Group, whose presence was nearly invisible.

He spent most of his time chanting sutras in the Atlas Academy’s temple, and rarely appeared in the campus unless necessary. Even for the meetings of the Absolution Knight Group, he rarely took part.

In the moment Zheng Qing raised his hand to greet the monk, he suddenly remembered something—during the last Moon Hunting newcomer competition, when he was being chased by a horde of demons in the Hunting Ground, he had vowed that if he survived, he would offer incense to all gods and buddhas in the sky.

But later, because so many things happened, he seemed to have forgotten about it and never fulfilled his vow.

Or perhaps he did fulfill it, but his heart wasn’t sincere, so it didn’t count.

Recently being so unlucky, could it be related to the gods and buddhas being angry with him? The young cost student thought guiltily, consoling himself that Jiuyou Academy had few clay and wooden statues to begin with, making it difficult to even find a place to fulfill his vow.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to; he truly couldn’t.

”Shi Yuan! Great Master Shi Yuan!!” the young cost student shouted, waving his hands and calling out to the monk, ”Wait for me!”

The figure in the yellow robe ahead stopped walking, head bowed, silently twisting his prayer beads.

Zheng Qing ran up to Shi Yuan’s side, panting, and said, ”What brings you to the academy? I was thinking of finding time to go to the Pyramid to seek your guidance for praying to Buddha and the gods.”

The Pyramid was a signature building located at Atlas Academy, just as the Jiuyou Academy and Alpha Fortress were unique structures. As for things like ’praying to the gods and worshipping Buddha,’ that was purely an excuse Zheng Qing had just thought up.

Because it was only when he had just remembered the vow and thought of ”clay and wooden statues” that Zheng Qing suddenly realized that there was a college called Atlas within the First University. That college had many religious fanatics, and no shortage of idols to kneel before. Perhaps on Buji Island, this was the most likely place for Zheng Qing to fulfill his vow to all gods and buddhas in the sky.

Shi Yuan, twirling his prayer beads, looked up and scrutinized Zheng Qing’s eyes carefully, then eventually shook his head: ”The Buddha is not a clay or wooden figure, nor a puppet at anyone’s whim to kneel before. He is the faith in our hearts. With Buddha in your heart, it doesn’t matter where you worship. Without Buddha in your heart, it’s easy to bring about karma.”

Zheng Qing’s mouth twitched.

”I don’t have such lofty pursuits or such advanced spiritual cultivation,” the warlock chuckled dryly, waving his hand, ”I’m just seeking peace of mind.”

Monk Shi Yuan sighed softly, the prayer beads in his hand paused, ”Arriving at a state of tranquility is like having no heart at all, as if the illness has faded, just like before it ever existed. For you, peace of mind is the medicine that expels the heart’s ailments. It’s fine to seek prostration.”

Zheng Qing finally abandoned this rather difficult topic and asked instead, ”You haven’t told me why you had time to come to the academy today?”

Shi Yuan’s prayer beads finally came to rest, ”As a student representative, I am attending your hearing.”

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When Zheng Qing and Monk Shi Yuan arrived at the student council room on the third floor of the teaching building, the room was already filled with representatives from the four academies. The place was teeming with people, yet it was not noisy, exuding an air of good quality.

There was not a single outsider or professor present, not even older students. Zheng Qing noticed that most of the robes worn by the students in the conference room had one or two trims. Several students with three black trims were seated on the presiding stage, including Sister Korma.

When Zheng Qing entered the room, Korma turned her head slightly and glanced at him, but made no sign of recognition, as if she didn’t know the warlock before her. The warlock seated at the center of the presiding stage then knocked his wooden gavel and called out, ”Order!”

Several piercing voices followed in quick succession:

”Everyone shut your mouths!”

”You young whippersnappers!”

”This isn’t a marketplace!”

This rather rude outburst was from a three-headed parrot strutting back and forth on the presiding stage. Zheng Qing recognized it. Last semester, during the student council interviews, this parrot was responsible for calling numbers. According to old-timers in the council, it had even served as the honorary chairman for many sessions of the student council.

Zheng Qing took his seat obediently on the surface, but internally he criticized the boring nature of the event—based solely on the presence of the three-headed parrot roaming freely on the presiding stage, young sponsored students could determine that today’s so-called ’hearing’ was a farce. Perhaps, as Xiao Xiao had said, it was merely a gathering of student representatives to check the public opinion atmosphere on campus.

Although the voice of the three-headed parrot was grating, it was very effective. The previously slightly bustling conference room instantly fell silent. The curtains hanging on the glass windows to one side of the conference room seemed to receive some command, drawing themselves shut without human intervention.

The dimming light subtly intensified the solemn atmosphere in the conference room.

Zheng Qing’s seat was to the left of the presiding stage, at a separate small desk; opposite him was Sepulano’s table, with the Fat Wizard sitting behind it, leisurely and tidily. He greeted the young sponsored student with a polite wave as he sat down.

Below the presiding stage were the representatives from the four academies, their red, blue, yellow, and white robes distinct, forming four clear arrays. Closer to Zheng Qing’s side were the red-robed students from Jiuyou Academy; closer to Sepulano were the white-robed scholars from Alpha Academy.

Perhaps in fear that the students of the two academies would start fighting upon seeing each other, the representatives from Atlas and Starry Sky Academies considerately sat between the red and white robes, forming a substantial barrier.

Even so, this did not curb the animosity between the two academies.

The meeting went off-topic right from the start.

After order was declared on the presiding stage, within a mere moment, a white-robed student raised a hand and stood up, questioning seriously, ”Why is the hearing not being held in Alpha Fortress? We don’t doubt the fairness of everyone present, but we reserve our opinions regarding such an important meeting taking place in the implicated party’s academy.”

Zheng Qing’s eyes nearly rolled all the way back in his head. If he didn’t know the true nature of the meeting, he might have thought, after hearing the white-robed student’s remarks, that this was Danghag’s high Judgement Court discussing a topic involving Black Wizards!